Roll your own.... (Blackouts)

“I got this anouncement from my sister. I think I'll participate. The worst it could do is result in some minor energy conservation:

"ROLL YOUR OWN BLACKOUT
THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
JUNE 21, 2001 THURS EVE,

7-10pm worldwide, all time zones

As an alternative to George W. Bush's energy policies and lack of
emphasis on efficiency, conservation and
alternative fuels, there will be a voluntary rolling blackout on the
7pm - 10pm in any time zone (this will roll it across the planet).

Its a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turn out your lights from 7pm-10pm on June 21.

Unplug whatever you can unplug in
your house."”

“I think it'll be good to do with my children and it'll be good for me. After the kids are in bed, I'll light the candles and kick back with a glass of wine while enjoying a few moments of quiet. Heck, I might even make it a regular, weekly occurance. :o)”

“Just don't ask me to turn off my computer!”

“How bout doing this everyday.”

“I like it!

mel should turn off her TV!

I'm hopin' to be in the woods for the Holy Solstice.”

“At first I was thinking like bacpac, then I remembered all the chores I do at that time, like running the dishwasher, dryer, and computer. With a little planning, it would still be do-able. Using less electricity rather than using at different times of the day would be good too. Good practice for when the cost of electricity doubles, which will be soon.”

“Sounds easy enough to do!”

“and.... what are we protesting, here?

i'll unplug all my junk, go outside, fire up the chainsaw, and lay waste to a tree.”

“Sounds good! Now I'll be able to fire up my whale oil lamp. Hey rad, make sure that the tree is home to a spotted owl!”

“Hmmmmmm, I could "unplug" whatever I can in someone else's house.
I could choose one of those neighborhoods of McMansions that has over-run some of our green space out in the county.”

“....any advice about blowin' sh!t up?
I could turn off the entire neighborhood.”

“....any advice about blowin' sh!t up?
I could turn off the entire neighborhood.

radagast-
You could go out and idle your car's engine for a couple of hours to show solidarity with the oil companies.”

“actually, i was going to use about 30 gallons of gas to get a good bonfire going.”

“Waaaa-hooooo
If you set the woods on fire just be sure to run fast!”

“And you call yourselves backpacker. :(”

“no, i call myself radabastard, but i do like to backpack!”

“Hey rad - when you start the bonfire, be sure to use some old growth wood, it burns really well with gasoline!”

“Atta boy Rad... it ain't a real protest 'less somfin gets destroyed!”

“Burn, Baby, Burn!!!”

“At first this sounds like a good idea until you look at the nations power grid. The system is a load-based system. The power plants are at there most efficient when they operate at 100% there for power plants are designed to operate at 100% as much as possible. Then the use of peaker " plants to ad a bust to the system" and energy storage " a way to store the excess energy created " are used in alternating cycles. Side note it the use of peaker plants with must likely use natural gas as an energy source that was a course of the large natural gas prices last winter. This is not a peak time. There for a large percentage of power is being put into storage devices (i.e. pump storage lakes). The problem is these devices only have a set capacity if the load was suddenly removed it would have an adverse maybe catastrophic effect on the system. This is what caused the N.Y. black out. If you must conserve then do so during the peak times eliminating the need for peak power.”

“Cool!”

“Yeah. I did it last night. I left the fridge on and turned the hall light on at 8:00 (kids get scared at night). Other than that, I found that it just postponed my power usage. It was worth a try. :o)”

“There are a lot of things you can turn off and not postpone (like TV)...”

“Did anyone actually do this last night?

It was margarita and toast night at my house. The blender and toaster were on all night!”

“Yes, went to Vino's in Little Rock last night and the cashier was using a flashlight to make change and the place was lit by candles. I'd call it a partial/symbolic blackout. Of course they still had power in the kitchen etc.”

“Where's good ol' Ed Abbey when we need him?

Margaritas and toast? Tell Unca Gremlin all about this (gotta be a story here).”

“Yes be sure to turn off your refrigerator, and don't use AC or the cloths dryer, pedxing. Those are real energy hogs. Lights only use about $.001 per day.

If you're just shutting off lights, ped, you can feel good but it just ain't doin' too much. You can light candles and pollute the air though.”

“I still find it hard to believe that, with all bad news about energy, there are still 35,000 neighborhood associations in California that ban outdoor clotheslines! Wake up, people!”

“I did my limited blackout and will do one tomorrow.

Arc: I don't have AC in my house... which isn't that big a sacrifice, because it almost never gets over 98 here. I didn't plan this thing, and I see very limited value to it... but then it didn't take much effort either.”

“I wonder if there was any noticeable effect. I heard that 25,000 households would have made a measurable difference.”

“Ped, if EVERYBODY joined in, the savings could be substantial. Not everyone is so civic minded. But all you can do is your part, and that makes a difference.

Went kayaking down the Suwannee River this weekend and made sure to bring a garbage bag. There were two canoes in our group so we used one as a garbage scow. We filled that bag up and a little more. There was a lot more we could have done but I felt good knowing we did something. We had a nice day in the woods and repaired a little more than we damaged. Every little bit helps, ped.

Dang shame when Ronny R. stopped funding for solar research. I was willing to pay for that. I wonder how far we're going to have to slide before we seriously start looking at alternative energy sources?”

“Light up!
everybody!
Join us in this celebration
Light up!
and be happy!
Sweet, sweet sounds will fill the air

Every day's a holiday when your lips meet mine
The music's keepin' time with our love
You are here, and so am I
The weather's quite divine
So pass me round your wine, lovely one

All I need is just one hit to get me by
'Cause baby when your near I'm halfway high!!!

Light up!
everybody!
Join us in this celebration
Light up!
and be happy!
Sweet, sweet sounds will fill the air!”

“arclite.....you paddled Sat? sun?...what part of the suwannee....? We picked up occasional floating cups and trash too...from spirit of th e suwannee put in to the fla boys ranch run.......this was saturday.....we only encountered one group of canoeists all day.”

“My wife and I sat on the front porch with some friends and had a black-out party.
The kids even turned off the video stuff from 7 pm to 10 pm.

”

“Hopefuly in another year or two, you Californians will have a Grey out, and get yourself some real leadership.”

“I have become a firm believer in solar power...Solar Panels now rest on the roof, and the battery bank provides 12 volt power to every room in the house. When blackouts roll around, or a storm knocks out the power, an inverter can provide 110 volt power to anything I need to operate. Next addition: a wind generator to supplement the solar.....

My point is, don't wait for the GOVERNMENT to provide you with an alternative source of power, install your own. "Government" is supposed to provide your power now, and doesn't, so don't hold your breath waiting for alternative sources.”

“Great!

I'm working on a housing development now that uses solar panels and passive solar design along with windmills. It is at the shore so the wind is ever present. 'Green' materials like recycled bricks will be utilized as well.

Part of the idea is to make the homes more affordable to the owner through increased energy efficiency.”

“Well, i-am-om, you must have been in one of the groups we passed. We started about 10 miles North of Spirit of the Suwannee and took out there at about 2:00pm. We had two canoes and three kayaks. There was a woman in a small red kayak in the lead. I was in one of the other two kayaks (mine was orange) at the back of the pack.

I would like to design my next house to be completely off the grid. Unfortunately business doesn't often react before the curve. The pay-back from photovoltaic panels is still not efficient enough to justify using them unless you've got a lot of money to burn. And the "life-cycle" cost (environmental impact from raw material to finished product) is a push with utility generated power.

I agree Super, the government should not be forcing research, but that was a program that I didn't mind subsidising.

I have access to a lot of information on solar technology (the energy efficiency of mechanical systems was my specialty in school) if anyone's interested.”

“rollyourownblackout.com

If nothing else, it got people around the world at least thinking about conservation - not a bad start.”

“arclite...ah....we putIN at spirit of the swannee around 9am and traveled downstream about seven miles.”

“Thanks for the Link violin!”

“Another sign of the impending doom.”